There's Always a Dream To Fight For
by MattiK
Summary: AU. Done with romance and Fed up with handsome guys, Tifa moves out from Midgar with a broken heart, to Kalm, a small, friendly city. Seems perfect for a fresh start, right? Well, not exactly.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"… That would be all for today."

With the last word the professor uttered, the class was filled with sudden commotion. The screech of chairs pulling back and the excited voices of the students who met each other after the summer vacation.

I sighed and shoved my stuff into my bag. Being the new student sucked. That was for sure. But still, I was glad that I was here. Away from the suffocating atmosphere of Midgar, away from snob and hypocritical Midgarian people. Away from the people who didn't like you and respect you for you really were.

I knew that wasn't entirely true, but not entirely wrong either. I couldn't help feeling cynical. My last boyfriend didn't even bother to take time and pretend that he actually was interested in me rather in my position and fortune.

Anyway, yeah, so I moved out. It wasn't an easy task let me tell you. I was attending University of Midgar at the time. But I managed to get transferred to Kalm College. And my family? Well that was probably the hardest part. It took a lot of reassuring and reasoning to convince them that I really needed to get some space and live on my own for a while. My uncle particularly didn't approve of my decision. But hey, that was my life and I wasn't a child anymore. I was twenty years old.

And so far, I didn't regret it. I knew it was soon to judge, but Kalm was exactly what I dreamed it to be. It lived up to its name. It was much smaller than Midgar, yes but twice more quite. For someone like me, who was born and raised in Midgar, it was a welcoming change. And most importantly, no one here knew who I was.

Slowly and leisurely, I walked in the hall way trying to find my next class, Advanced Sociology. Here, even with all the new and unfamiliar things that were awaiting for me, I felt more at peace than I ever felt in Midgar.

"Humph…"

As I was looking for the class, someone bumped into me hard and shoved me a few inches back. A hand reached out a caught me before I lost may balance.

"Sorry…Sorry….! I wasn't looking! Are you okay?"

I looked up at the hazel eyes staring at me, widening with concern.

"I'm fine, no big deal!" I said as I rearranged the strap of my bag on my shoulder and took a proper look at the girl in front of me who looked a little out of breath.

She was petite, but clearly strong since she had almost knocked me down. She had Short black hair and a white bandanna around her head. So from Wutai perhaps.

"Sorry, I was just trying to find my class. Stupid literature! Do you know where on Gaia the literature class is?" she exclaimed with frustration. I smiled slightly.

"Sorry, I don't. I'm new here too."

"Oh, so you're a freshman too?"

"No junior, just transferred here."

"Well, I'm Yuffie, nice to meet you!" she extended her hand toward me. I reached out and shook her hand.

"Tifa."

"See you around Tifa! Sorry again!"

"I guess," I waved my hand as she walked away and I went back to the quest of finding my own class.

I stopped in front of one of the classes, "Class 214, it must be this."

I entered the class and took a seat in the back of the class. It was a huge class with most of the seats taken. Probably a crowded class. A few minutes later, the teacher entered. The moment that I saw him I knew without being told that he was a strict teacher, one that liked things get done his way.

Yet sociology was one of my favorites. One of the reasons that I went through things like history and other craps. The teacher started the class with an introductory of the course and continued with the topics that he was going to cover through the semester.

"Pay attention please that in addition to your midterm and final exams, there's also a project that you have to do," The students started to mutter in complain but the Professor Zangan spoke louder, "and let me tell you that it's much more important for me than either of them. You're supposed to do it in the teams of two. And you don't get to choose your partner yourself…" once again his voice was faded among the students complaints.

"Yeah…Yeah, I know that you'd rather work with your BFF Mr. Biggs but that's not going to happen. This is sociology class and I want to know how you would get along with someone out of the loop of your friends. So I'm going to read the names of each team."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Perfect! What was better than a team project for a new student? Seriously, what was the deal with the teachers and team works?

"Johnathan Wilks and Ashly Green."

"Sora Anderson and Takreru Yagami."

.

.

.

And so he proceeded with the names. I was almost falling asleep when I heard my own name.

"Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart."

Well, that was a weird name! I turned my head to side to see if I could locate this Cloud guy, but I couldn't see anyone answering my inquiring gaze.

"And finally, Taro Satoh and Megan Agdal. Now please pay attention that you've got two weeks to decide on your project subject and they should meet with my approval. Class dismissed."

I didn't immediately leave the class. I killed a few minutes gathering my stuff, hoping this Cloud guy to show up. But when the classroom was almost empty, I gave up and exited the building, where most of the students were gathering in groups.

"Wouldn't kill you to come and introduce yourself since I'm new here, would it?" I muttered bitterly under my breath. I went to one of the guys who was talking and laughing with his friends and poked him shyly in the back to get his attention. He turned around to face me, looking a little surprised.

"Um…hi," I said awkwardly.

"Hi,"

"Excuse me, do you know Cloud Strife?"

"Strife? Sure!" he looked around for a second then pointed his chin at somewhere, "See the guy standing alone over there? Blond hair? That's strife."

I followed his gaze and my eyes fell on a boy leaning against a wall, looking at his surrounding with a look of disinterest on his face. He was wearing black cargo pants along with a black T-shirt. His black outfit was completed with a pair of black sunglasses. Yet, his most noticeable feature, was his hair. Locks of light blond hair was standing in every direction as they wished, defying gravity. It was strangely beautiful.

"Thanks," I said to the boy.

"Sure. Hey you're new here? Don't think I've seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm transferred from Midgar U," I explained.

"Wow, and would you leave Midgar U for here?" he asked genuinely amazed.

I got that reaction a lot. Midgar University was the first ranked college on… well, the planet. No one on their right mind would miss the chance of studying there. But I had my own reasons.

"I'm Tifa, by the way." I dodged his question with a smile.

"Biggs," he introduced himself.

I thanked Biggs again and went off to meet my project partner who hadn't moved as if waiting for someone. ' _Sure, I should be the one to find him,_ ' the nagging voice in my head commented again. As I got closer, I noticed how handsome he really was. Although, the sunglasses covered some part of his face, but it was obvious that he was a good looking man. I groaned inwardly. Great! Exactly what I needed: Another good looking, arrogant guy; a player whose most glorious achievement would be the number of girls he had dumped. I had seen enough of them in my life, and unfortunately, had always been attracted to them. Seriously, it was like I had kind of an internal magnet that pulled all these jerks toward me.

But not anymore. I hadn't moved miles away from my home to be at the same point that I had started. I had moved to start over. To spend some time alone with myself. To get to know Tifa better. To understand what she really wanted. To understand her hopes and dreams.

Now I was standing right in front of him, and he had his head turned to the other side. Didn't he noticed me? Or was he just trying to play cool?

"Um…Hello."

He tilted his head slightly toward me but other than that didn't show any reaction. It was starting to unnerve me.

"Hello! Hey are you Cloud Strife?"

Finally, I managed to get his attention. He was now looking straight at me, or so I thought so. His dark sunglasses made it difficult to know where exactly he was looking.

"You must be Tifa."

I was stunned for a moment before recovering and shook the hand extended toward me.

"Um, yeah, nice to meet you."

I couldn't help but think that he held my hand a little longer, but before I could say anything he released it.

"Okay…So what should we do about this project? I mean he said we have two weeks to find a subject."

I rolled my eyes as I spoke, hoping to lighten up the conversation, you know, making fun of the professor and his rules.

He looked at me blankly, not even cracking up a tiniest bit. I probably was teamed up with one of the most handsome and weirdest guys on the whole Gaia.

"Yeah, I guess we should set a time to talk about it," he said somewhat reluctantly.

"Sure. Look, I'm just in a bit of hurry now, so how about I give you a call later and we arrange something?"

"Sure."

I took out my phone and punched his number then dialed it. when I heard his ringtone, I hung up.

"And that's my number, just in case."

"Okay, thanks."

"Okay so I catch up with you later, Cloud."

"Bye Tifa."

I smiled to myself as I walked back to my apartment. I didn't know why, but it was kind of nice to hear my own name from him.

' _You're crazy!_ ' here was the nagging voice again. I shook my head as I unlocked the door.

I looked at the clock, four thirty. Good! I had half an hour to get ready and head off to my first job interview.

* * *

 **A/N:** Thanks for reading. I really appreciate your reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

Okay so if I had told my uncle that I was thinking about working in a bar, he would have totally flipped out. Luckily, I was wise enough not to bring it up. The truth was that I was determined to make some money and cover at least some parts of my expenses myself.

So I saw this ad in the newspaper and it just seemed perfect. The bar wasn't far from my place, the payment seemed good. Plus, I had just turned twenty, so it wasn't illegal to work there.

I probably could have found some other good opportunities if I searched more, like working in a restaurant or a flower shop. But honestly? Working in a bar seemed more daring, and I was eager to do something daring.

I must admit though, when I reached the given address in the ad, I felt a little disappointed. Seventh Heaven, wasn't some kind of big, fancy bar. It was old, shabby and one of the letters of its sign was missing. ' _Don't be a pussy Teaf!_ '

I pushed the door open and entered. The bar was crowded; filed with the sound of talking, laughter and glasses clinging together. I could barely make out some music playing in the background and the smell of liquor was overwhelming.

I went to the bar where a young man was serving customers. He turned to me. "ID, please," he said before I could open my mouth.

"Um, actually I'm here to speak with Mr. Wallace."

"Oh, he's over there."

I turned around and saw a burly man, pushing the door open with a large box in his arms. He was a broad, muscular man with dark skin and dark smart eyes. As he got closer, I could see a tattoo on his left arm. He put the box on the counter.

"Take these to the cellar," he said roughly to the young bartender.

I stepped in, trying to look as confident as I could, "Mr. Wallace?" He turned toward me.

"Yeah?"

"I'm Tifa Lockhart, we've talked on the phone-"

"Here for the ad, ain't you?"

I nodded. He pointed at a door behind the counter, "Wait there, I'll be with you in a minute,"

"Alright."

I went to the room and closed the door behind me. The room was quiet, the noise of the bar didn't reach there. Could I get that that job? And if I did, could I work at some place like that? I take a deep breath and turned around.

That was when I noticed that I wasn't alone.

A little girl was sitting there at a table with a bunch of papers and pencils scattered in front of her. She was answering my shocked look with her curious one.

"Hello," she said in her melodic voice.

"Um, hi," I said as I took some hesitant steps toward her.

"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes filled with innocent curiosity.

"Oh, I'm Tifa … Um, I'm here to see if I can get a job here,"

"I'm Marlene, you're here to see Papa then?"

I nodded, although I wasn't sure who she was talking about. She looked at me for a few more seconds before going back to her drawing. I didn't mind, really. Truthfully, I didn't know how to treat children. I hadn't been around them since, well since I was a child myself. I looked at her as she drew something with her colored pencil. She didn't look more than five. She had large beautiful brown eyes and her brown hair was braided neatly with a red ribbon.

As moments passed in silence, I got bored. I went over to Marlene and asked, "Can I see your drawing?"

She glanced at me, then pulled back her hands so I could see the paper. I looked at those unintelligible lines and color. I bend down to take a closer look. What was that, really? Was that a fish tail? And that was a face, right?

"Is that a mermaid?"

She looked at me, looking truly amazed, "How did you tell? No one ever could tell!"

I smiled, feeling somewhat proud of myself. "Well it's just there, it's so clear!"

"That's what I say all the time," she said, glowing with happiness.

Just then, the door opened and Mr. Wallace entered.

"Sorry about that," he said closing the door, behind himself.

"It's alright," I said with a smile as I straightened up.

"Take a seat," he said, sitting on one a chair at the table himself. I sat down in front of him.

"Okay, so…um…"

"Tifa," Marlene came to his help.

"Right, Tifa, you twenty yet?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yes, I turned twenty three month ago."

"Have you worked places like this before?"

"No, sir."

"Drop the formality kiddo, just call me Barret. Have you worked at all before?"

"No," I admitted reluctantly.

He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He probably had already made his decision.

"But," I added before he could say anything, "I'm really willing to take this job, and I'm sure I can manage it, I'm a quick learner. If you just give me a chance."

"You saw out there. We have our hands full in the afternoon, so I need someone-"

"Papa?"

He turned his head toward Marlene, "What is it Marl?" Every bit of his face softened at he talked with her.

"Give her the job."

Both Barret and I looked at her shocked. Marlene continued, "She can do it! Please give her the job! I like her," she looked at his father with big puppy eyes.

Barret held her gaze for a moment, then sighed and turned to me, "Alright, How much do you know about drinks and cocktails?"

"I know the basics." Or at least I was going to do some studying in the first chance.

He glanced at Marlene's hopeful face and sighed again. "Alright, so I guess I see you tomorrow."

"You mean I'm hired?" I asked, not believing my luck.

"Yeah, you're," he mumbled. Marlene pumped her fist in victory.

"Thank you so much si… I mean Barret, Thanks! I won't disappoint you."

"You'd better not," he said, smiling slightly at my enthusiasm. "Okay, so you're gonna work Wednesdays to Sundays, from six to eleven. And no drinking when you work, Clear?"

"Yes."

"That's it then," he said as he stood up, "see you tomorrow."

"Of course," I said as I made my way out. "Thanks Marlene."

"Bye, Tifa!" She waved happily at me.

I waved back as I exited the room and closed the door.

Okay, so I might know little about children, but Marlene was really a sweet kid.

* * *

 **A/N:** So here was the chapter two. It was short but I'm working on the next chapter. The legal drinking age in this story is assumed to be 20.

Thanks you guys all for reading. Let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"I'm fine! Everything's fine. Nothing to worry about." I said for what felt like the hundredth time.

"If you need anything…"

"I will let you know." I cradled the phone between my ear and neck and as I tried to rub some jam on my toast. Just then, my eyes slipped on the clock and the toast fell from my hand.

"Oh my God! I'm gonna be late for my class! I'll talk to you later."

Aunt Jane sighed from the other side of the line, "Alright honey. Take care of yourself!"

I hung up the phone and rushed toward the bathroom. After a cursory brush of my teeth, I ran to my room to change. I put on a pair of black pants, a white tank top and my black leather jacket. I wore my hair into a ponytail, grabbed my bag and keys, and took off.

My apartment, wasn't exactly in the campus, but wasn't that far from it. I jammed my hand frees in my ear as I walked to the college. It was a nice day, sunny with a soft breeze.

I tried to concentrate on the music, tuning out bothersome thoughts in my head, but they came anyway. In a way, I could understand why my family felt so reluctant when I wanted to move out, or why they were so concerned that I was living all by myself and refused to get help from them. My apartment was literally nothing compared to our house back in Midgar.

But I hadn't earned that. I hadn't earned any of that. All my life, I hadn't earned any single thing. And my family didn't get it! They didn't understand the importance of it. So what if my uncle ran one of the most powerful and prestigious companies in the world? I didn't have anything to do with it. I had to build my own future.

As expected, I was late for the class. When I arrived, the professor was already there, giving lecture. I tried to slip in, without attracting any attention and took a seat at one of the back rows beside a boy with deep red shirt and long jet black hair. As I sat, he turned toward me and stared at me with unreadable eyes for several long moments. I was about to snap when he turned around and gave his attention back to the professor. ' _Wow! Don't know what I did to offend his majesty? What? Is he too cool to sit next to me?'_ I shook my head and tried to focus on the lecture.

Till the end of the class the jerk acted as if I didn't exist. I didn't care. The Professor had a foreign accent and I had a difficult time following what she was saying. When the class finished, I got my stuff and left the class without looking back.

I had a couple of free hours until my next class. So I decided to go to library and do some research. Was it too weird to use the university library to study about different alcoholic drinks and cocktails? Well, I didn't have much choice. Today was my first day at work, and I didn't want to mess it up.

After spending an hour and half at the library and trying not to fall asleep for the half of it, I came to conclusion that probably mixology was not something to be learnt through books, or at least not for me. So I just decided to go grab some lunch before my next class. As I was walking out of the library, a familiar golden head caught my eyes and I came to a halt.

Cloud Strife was also in the library, and by the looks of it, he wasn't making the most of his time either. He was sitting by one of the desks, with his head on the table, and his hand frees in his ears. His eyes were closed and he seemed deeply asleep.

Before I knew, I stepped closer and studied him more carefully. Although I had met him yesterday, the details of his face was starting to fade.

Long eyelashes casted shadow on his cheeks and golden threads of locks surrounded his face. His lips were slightly parted as he breathed in and out slowly. He looked so peaceful.

Honestly, I was very tempted to reach and touch those locks, to see if they were as soft as they looked. But I stopped myself at the last minute. Seriously, what was wrong with me? The guy would freak out if he saw me gawking at him like that. I shook my head, slightly amused by own antics. However seeing Cloud reminded me of our mutual project and the fact that I needed to make some time to think about that too. A good subject….that could meet the strict, old prof standards…

I bought myself a Cesar salad at the Cafeteria and found myself an empty table. I just had started eating that I was interrupted.

"Tifa, Right?"

I looked up. It was the same girl from yesterday, the one that bumped into me.

"Oh, hi…Yuffie, was it?"

"That's the one. Mind if I join you?" she casually took a seat next to me before I had a chance to respond. "How're you doing?" she asked with a huge grin on her face.

"I'm doing fine, how about you? Did you find your class yesterday?"

"Yeah… after twenty minutes!" she answered sulkily as she reach inside her bag and pulled out a sandwich, "And the old hag gave me a whole lecture about how we should be more responsible and respect others, blah, blah, blah ..."

I laughed and she laughed alongside with me, "Seriously! It's like we're still in high school!" she rolled her eyes.

"I know," I said with a knowing smile. I was starting to like this weird girl and all her antics.

"Oh my God!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly.

"What's it?" I asked alarmed.

"Is that Vincent Valentine?" she asked, her eyes wide with disbelief and her mouth hanging open.

I looked at where she was staring. And guess what? It was the same guy from my class, earlier. His long hair was now pulled into a loose ponytail and his eyes were hidden behind his long fringe. But it was him for sure. He was just passing by, looking at no one in particular.

I turned away, not interested. "No Idea."

"It must be him! God, I can't believe it!"

"Who's Vincent Valentine anyway?" I asked as I continued to eat.

"You don't know him?" she looked pretty shocked.

"Should I?"

"He's the coolest guy on the planet! Haven't you heard his singing? And when he plays his guitar, it's just awesome!" Yuffie trailed off with a dreamy look on her face.

"So he's like a what? A rock star?"

"One of the best. And he's a student here! I was so looking forward to see him."

Okay, that explained it. I was really dumb when it came to rock music. Vincent Valentine! You'd think that's a name that would stick in your mind, but I had no idea. However, I didn't think he was as well-known as Yuffie made it sound. She was probably just a big fan. And judging by the way she followed him with her eyes, I knew I was right.

But as I looked around, I noticed that Yuffie wasn't the only one who was staring at him with interest. I had to admit that he was a good looking guy and being a musician just added to his charm. But in my book, he still remained a jackass, albeit a famous one.

Yuffie and I chatted for the rest of the lunch. It turned out that I had guessed right the other day and she was from Wutai. She was the eldest child of the family and had two younger brothers back at home. I told her I was just sick of Midgar University so I transferred here and that my family was still in Midgar. I was glad that she didn't ask for more details. I wasn't ready to share my story yet. I wanted people to know me by who I was rather than by my family background. All of these aside, Yuffie was from Wutai. People from Wutai were known to have some extreme opinions about some issues. I had learnt long ago that you should be careful about what you say around them.

After lunch I headed for my next class. Theories of Personality. It was excruciating! If you ever had a class right after lunch before, you'd probably understand what I'm talking about. I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than two minutes straight. My eyes kept drooping, and certainly, I was going to have some problems reading the notes that I took then. After the class I wisely decided to go home and get some rest. I was going to work till almost midnight and I had to save some energy.

* * *

I pushed open the door and entered the bar. Like last time, the strong scent of liquor welcomed me. Instead of the guy I met yesterday, there was a young girl now behind the counter serving drinks. As I approached her I couldn't help but feel a little out of place. I had a difficult time deciding what to wear for work. Barret hadn't talked about a certain dress code. And I knew something too fancy was not an option for a place like Seventh Heaven. I had ended up wearing a black knee-length skirt and a white blouse. The girl however was dressed as casually as possible: a loose T-shirt whit and a jean. Her red hair was held up with a hair clip.

"Hey," I called as I reached her, "My name is Tifa, I…"

"Oh yeah, Barret told me about you," she said with a bright smile. "Come over here, Tifa" She motioned with her hand for me to join her in the other side of the counter.

"Glad to have you here Tifa, I'm Jessie by the way."

"Nice to meet you Jessie," I said with a smile.

"Okay, first things first, let me show you some basics. Here is where we keep the glasses…Um, here are some of handy drinks, let see …here we have beers, ales, wine, sake, vodka and the rest. We keep scotch and champagne over there. What else? Oh yeah, here are fruit juices, we're out of apple juice today…"

I tried my best to keep up with her explanation as she pointed here and there, giving me some insights. She paused in the middle of her sentence and looked at me. "Well, I think that's enough for now. Let's just start and if you have a question just ask me."

"I will, Thanks Jessie."

I took a look at my surroundings. It was getting busier by the minute. I folded my sleeves and took a deep breath.

' _Okay Teaf, let's get the show on the road!"_

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright, here was another short chapter. I would have made it longer, but I thought it was better to write the rest in another chapter.

I know that many things are still vague, but they will make more sense in the next chapters. And hey, I gave you a hint about Tifa's family. Did you get that?

Also, gradually we're gonna come across other characters too. _And,_ get ready for a **huge** surprise in the next chapter.

And here are responses to your reviews.

 **sunflowerspot:** I'm so glad that you liked it so far. I know there wasn't much dynamic between Cloud and Tifa in this chapter. But keep an eye for the next chapter. I think you'll like it.

 **guest:** Sorry, this chapter was short too. But we're gonna see more of Cloud in the next chapter. I hope that will make up for it. ;)

Thank you guys for reading! I really appreciate your reviews.


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